


This Evening Can Be A Holy Night

by soul_writerr



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Chef!Sonny, Christmas Dinner, Cooking, Flirting, Kinda, Love at First Sight, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28261920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soul_writerr/pseuds/soul_writerr
Summary: When Lucia ambushes him with Christmas plans, Rafael hires a service to come and cook them dinner. Rafael and the chef, a very handsome man named Sonny, immediately hit it off.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 61
Collections: Barisi Christmas Celebration





	This Evening Can Be A Holy Night

**Author's Note:**

> Right, so I just wanted a Christmas meet-cute with some immediate connection and this happened? I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> The title is from Michael Bublé's Cold December Night. Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Rafael wasn’t ashamed of what he did, not even a little bit. It was Christmas, the busiest time of the year before everything slowed down and stopped for the Holidays. So not wanting to spend hours in the kitchen when he had a lot of work to do before his Christmas break was more than fair and he wouldn’t be made to feel guilty about it.

His mother would never know, so there was no harm done. It was her fault, really, for wanting to go down to Miami for Christmas. Her flight was set for December 22nd, which meant she wanted to have dinner before then. 

Before Rafael got time off. 

Before Rafael could even have time to  _ think  _ about what they could possibly eat for their Christmas meal. 

It was just like Lucia to pull something like that on him, and it was just like Rafael to find a way around it. 

So he’d hired a service. 

It’d come highly recommended - from Rita, no less, who was as picky about high quality food as she was about only throwing him the very worst of possible deals. 

Rafael had chosen the dishes from the menu on Carisi & Dodds’ website, which was remarkably varied, and one of the chefs would be sent to his home to cook for him. 

Perhaps, given his occupation and the cases he dealt with on a daily basis, Rafael should have thought twice before allowing a stranger into his home when he wasn’t there. However, given that Rita had done it many times, he considered it safe enough. After all, between the two of them, Rita would be the best option to murder. She had a lot more valuable items in her apartment and she was much more of a nuisance.

But as he walked into his apartment to the smell of various foods and the sound of cheerful Christmas songs, Rafael let out a breath of relief at seeing all his furniture still in place, locked his phone - in which he’d typed 911 and left his finger hovering above the dial button -, and went to meet the chef.

Back when Rafael had signed up for the service, he’d taken some time to appreciate the pictures of the chefs that were available on the website. 

Dodds was a broad man with a small, shy smile, dark hair and thick eyebrows. Carisi was tall, lithe, with a bright grin, light, sparkling eyes and grey hair. They were both handsome, but Rafael was weak when it came to men with dimples, and Carisi’s seemed to cave in deep. 

Rafael remembered them clearly, but he could never have imagined that the pictures would do absolutely no justice to the man standing in his kitchen that evening. 

Because there was Carisi, hair falling softly on his forever, forearms bared as he kneaded a ball of dough, and a dark blue apron with the Carisi & Dodds logo on it wrapped around his hips. When he looked over his shoulder and smiled at Rafael, the ADA bit into his own tongue  _ hard _ .

“Hey!,” he waved a hand covered in flour. “Sorry I can’t shake your hand. I’m Sonny, nice to meet you.”

“Rafael,” he said with a nod. “Nice to meet you, too. Did you find everything you needed?”

“Yeah, thank you,” Sonny grinned. “Your kitchen is a  _ dream _ .”

Rafael chuckled at the genuine joy radiating off the man. “I wouldn’t know, I’m not much of a cook.”

“That’s a shame,” he said, then shrugged and winked cheekily at Rafael. “But hey, it works for me.” 

“Right,” Rafael cleared his throat. “Do you need any help?”

“I’ve got it covered,” Sonny said, then went back to knead the dough. “But if you’re feeling peckish, I brought a plate of cheese and cold meat, it’s on the table.” 

Rafael’s eyebrows went up. “I thought we weren’t supposed to fill up on appetizers.”

“I didn’t say anything about filling up,” Sonny said with a chuckle. “But that tells me you’re the snacky type.”

“And I’m not sorry for it,” he shrugged and exited the kitchen with a dramatic flourish.

Rafael spotted the cheese plate quickly and popped a few cheese cubes and some olives into his mouth with a pleased hum, then returned to the kitchen for a drink. Sonny was now rolling the dough, and he quickly cut it out into little gingerbread men.

“My mother is going to know I didn’t make those,” Rafael said off-handedly, checking his wine rack.

“I didn’t know she was supposed to think you did,” Sonny said with a small frown. 

“Well,” he sighed. “It would be nice to not be berated about not cooking her dinner myself.”

Sonny nodded. “You could tell her you bought them from a local bakery. Should I let the ham go a little dry, for believability?”

“Don’t sacrifice the food for a little lie,” Rafal said, half-exasperated.

“Nobody deserves to be berated this close to Christmas,” Sonny said, once again so  _ genuine  _ it made Rafael’s teeth hurt.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. If it’s not the food, it’s my job, or my clothes, or my personal life choices,” Rafael waved a dismissive hand. “Latina mothers have a way of always finding something to complain about.”

“Funny you say that,” Sonny said, transferring the gingerbread men into a baking tray. “My business partner, Mike, he’s also cooking for a Cuban family tonight. The guy called a couple days ago to talk about the menu and he kept saying everything had to be  _ perfect _ otherwise his mother would make the night unbearable.”

Rafael laughed, raising an empty glas at Sonny. “That’s Cuban mothers for you.”

“My family’s Italian,” Sonny said, as if it weren’t obvious. “And food is a big deal back home, too.”

Rafael shook his head. “As I said, it’s not about the food,” he filled his glass with his best red wine. “May I offer you some?”

“I shouldn’t,” Sonny said with a side smile that was all dimples. “Not while I’m working.”

Rafael looked around the kitchen. Everything was clean and, other than the serving plates on the island and the few pans on the stove, there was nothing out of place, not even a cutting board or a knife.

“It looks like you’re finished,” Rafael said.

Sonny put the cookie tray on the stove and closed it. “That was the last of the dessert. The flan is in the fridge, the ham is going in the oven after the cookies so it’ll come out and go straight to the table, and the sides are all done.”

“Perfect,” Rafael smiled. “Then have a drink with me.”

Sonny ducked his head and Rafael saw a blush come up his neck and color his cheeks. “Okay,” he said.

Rafael grabbed another glass and served Sonny, inviting him to sit with him and snack on some more of the cheese selection. 

“You said your mother would complain about your job,” Sonny started. “What is it that you do?”

“I’m a lawyer,” Rafael said. “A prosecutor with Manhattan’s DA’s Office.”

Sonny gaped at him. “An ADA! I’m a lawyer, too. I mean, sometimes. When the business needs it.”

“Really? Business law?”

He shrugged. “I passed the bar a long time ago but never did anything with it, so yeah, I guess.”

Rafael tilted his head. “Do you wish you could use it?”

“I don’t regret starting my own business with Mike,” Sonny said. “I love doing this, you know. Meeting the families, cooking for them. But it’s not exactly a year-round thing.”

“Why don’t you make this part-time, then? Firms are always looking for people with commercial law experience.” 

“Because of Mike,” Sonny said after a sip of wine. “He used to be a cop. A Sergeant. And a damn good one, you know. But he got shot in the line of duty and was forced into early retirement. I saw my best friend start to lose it, so I had to do something. Thanksgiving right around the corner, we put some ads up on Facebook and got our first clients. No brand, no name, nothing.”

“That’s commendable,” Rafael said. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be a downer,” Sonny shook his head. “And I don’t regret any of it, by the way. I just wish there was something more for me.” 

“I can make some calls,” Rafael said, surprising even himself. “You said you have summers free?”

Sonny blinked rapidly. “Yeah, yeah. But you don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t have to, no,” he shrugged. “But I know a hard-worker when I see one.”

“Wow,” he breathed. “Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me yet, I haven’t done anything,” Rafael chuckled.

“No, I know, but just for offering,” Sonny beamed. “For believing in me.”

“Well,” Rafael smiled back. “It’s Christmas. You know how it is.”

Sonny considered him for a moment. “Let me thank you properly, then. Let me make you dinner.”

“I thought you already had,” Rafael teased, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I mean just the two of us,” Sonny shot him a bright grin.

“Like a date?”

Sonny ducked his head again, and the pinky flush bloomed. “Yeah, like a date.”

“Okay,” Rafael smirked, then raised his glass for a toast. “To Christmas.”

Sonny beamed. “To Christmas, and miracles.”

**Author's Note:**

> I know different restrictions are in place everywhere and a lot of people can't see their families or loved ones this year, but I hope you have a good holiday celebration anyway. 
> 
> This will most likely be my last Christmas story for the year, so see you again next year! MWAH Oh -- and just in case you were wondering, Mike was cooking dinner for the Amaro family *wink* domaros make some noise!


End file.
